Vegan New Yorkers have a new living option: Madison Jackson, the city's first vegan-friendly luxury building, which is set to open by the end of the summer.

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WEDNESDAY, June 12, 2012 — Veganism is moving into a bigger footprint.

From your neighborhood juicing spot to outspoken celebrity vegan advocates it's now easier — and more mainstream — than ever to live completely without animal products.

New York vegans, a list that includes big names such as President Bill Clinton and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, are getting another veg-friendly boost. Madison Jackson, the city's first vegan-lifestyle luxury building, is set to open on the Lower East Side of Manhattan this summer.

"Vegan-lifestyle" means that the building's amenities, which include organic vegan room service available 24/7; an on-site juice bar; and organic dry-cleaning, plus Jivamukti yoga classes; nutritional counseling; a heated pool; indoor cycling room; and spa services for residents who join the building's private Madison Jackson Club, will all be vegan. But you don't have to be vegan to live there. The building, a former public school that was built in 1908 and has stood vacant since the '80s, caters to the neighborhood residents who are busy, urban people who want to lead healthy, holistic lives, says Michael Bolla, the real estate broker from Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate who is handling the business.

Veg-Friendly Communities Around the World

Madison Jackson is perhaps the first group of condominiums to offer specifically vegan amenities, but there are smaller, more self-segregated vegan living communities dotted across the country.

Most vegan communities are intentional communities, which are ecovillages, cohousing communities, communes, co-ops, or alternative living communities where people live together with a common vision. A recent search through the Fellowship for Intentional Community's database reveals that most of these communities operate as rural communes with ranches, orchards, and small businesses set up to sustain members. For example, the East Wind Community in southern Missouri farms land and makes and sells nut butters and sandals to support commune members who live an eco-friendly, vegan lifestyle.

Some vegan intentional communities will make exceptions for people who aren't 100-percent vegan, and will eat, for example, foods that contain cochineal, a common food additive made from bugs.

Many colleges or universities also make a special effort to cater to the eating needs of their residents. For example, students at the University of Southern California who are vegetarian are advised to live in the Honors House, which provides a special vegetarian meal plan.

Internationally, India might be the most vegetarian- and vegan-friendly place on the planet, as many of the country's traditional religions, including Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, require or encourage followers to eat vegetarian.

For New Yorkers interested in giving the Madison Jackson a whirl, ask fast. The building holds 110 loft-like units priced from around $500,000 to about $1.5 million, and Bolla says he already has more than 300 interested buyers.

Are there any vegan-lifestyle residences in your area? Tell us about them in the comments.

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